The Spider-Spotters Guide to the Famous Spider-Heroes of Across the Spider-Verse
The web of life and destiny ties together the fates of many heroes—and while Into the Spider-Verse introduced us and Miles Morales to quite a few, Across the Spider-Verse throws him into the deep end with a whole super group of them. There are plenty of new Spidey heroes in the sequel, but just as many are classic takes on the character from comics, games, and beyond. Here’s who we spotted, from the big heroes to the blink-and-you’ll miss ‘em.
It’s not really a spoiler for Across the Spider-Verse to say there’s a lot of Spider-people in it. Not only are there familiar faces from Into the Spider-Verse, but tons of nods to generations of Spider-hero comics and adaptations, alongside entirely new designs created for Across. Even then, whether they’re all-new or Easter eggs, many are in it for just a blink-and-you’ll miss it moment—in fact, we’ve probably missed a few. If you noticed one we didn’t include, let us know in the comments!
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Of course, we’ll briefly touch on these Spiders’ roles in the film too, if you’ve still not swung your way into theaters and want to keep the Spider-surprises to yourself, consider this your last warning to turn back...
Miles Morales, Spider-Man
Earth: 1610
You know him, you love him, Brooklyn’s one and only Spider-Man was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli as the new Spider-Man to replace the Peter Parker of the Ultimate Marvel universe in 2011, after Peter died fighting the Green Goblin. Now ascendant as one of the most iconic versions of Spider-Man around, Miles has made his way in the comics over to the primary Marvel universe, Earth-616, as well as starring in his own video games and, well, you know, two wildly successful animated movies.
Gwen Stacy, Spider-Woman
Earth: 65
Created for the first event in Marvel’s comics to be dubbed Spider-Verse in 2014, this version of Earth-616's most famous casualty of being a close friend of Spider-Man was so immediately popular that she began appearing in her own comic book series after Spider-Verse was over. Her popularity bolstered again by her appearance in Into the Spider-Verse, Gwen—commonly known as Spider-Gwen, occasionally Spider-Woman, and even less so during that unfortunate time Marvel really wanted you to think her codename was “Ghost-Spider”—takes on a major role in Across.
Miguel O’Hara, Spider-Man 2099
Earth: 928
The Spider-Man of the far-flung year 2099, Miguel O’Hara was created in 1992 as an Irish/Mexican-American scientist who found himself transformed into Spider-Man against his will by Alchemax, who also did a lot of horrible stuff like forcing Miguel into a drug habit in an attempt to keep him loyal to the company. It was a lot.
In Across, Miguel’s Earth and the futuristic city of Nueva York is home to the Spider-Society, a multiversal collection of Spider-heroes working together to maintain the “canon” that binds all Spiders across the web of life and destiny.
Jess Drew, Spider-Woman
Earth: 404 (Across the Spider-Verse), 616 (comics)
Created as an attempt to stop rival companies from potentially cribbing off Spider-Man’s success in the ‘70s, Jessica Drew has had many iterations of her origins in the comics—and Issa Rae’s version of the character in Across is no exception. This Jess, Miguel’s second-in-command, is heavily inspired by more recent comics, in particular the 2014 All-New, All-Different Spider-Woman costume created by Kris Anka (who also worked on Across the Spider-Verse, designing myriad of unique extra designs for the film’s Spider-People). Also lifted from that comic storyline: the fact that Jessica is pregnant.
Peter B. Parker, Spider-Man
Earth: 616
The version of the ur-Peter seen in Into the Spider-Verse returns, now a father having re-established his marriage to Mary Jane Watson after the events of the movie. More on his kid shortly.
Pavitr Prabhakar, Spider-Man India
Earth: 50101
Pavitr is the Spider-Man of “Mumbattan” in Across, but in the comics, he was created for the 2005 miniseries Spider-Man: India. He made major appearances in the Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon comic events, before returning for a new miniseries this year to capitalize on his movie appearance.
Hobie Brown, Spider-Punk
Earth: 138
One of the alternate Spider-heroes introduced in the run up to Spider-Verse in 2014's Edge of Spider-Verse anthology, Hobie is the Spider of a dystopian reality where Norman Osborn was the tyrannical president of the United States. He’s a close friend of Gwen in Across.
Mayday Parker, Spider-Girl
Earth: 616 (Across the Spider-Verse), 982 (comics)
Peter B.’s little daughter lifts the name from the Spider-Girl of Earth-982, who first appeared in 1997's What If...? #105.
Ben Reilly, Scarlet Spider
Earth: 616
Ben Reilly, star of the Clone Saga, former hero, former villain, former reformed Spider-Man, current villain again (and recently completely innocent doer of wrongs alongside fellow begrudged clone, Madelyne Pryor), is arguably the most famous clone in comic book history. The version we get here in Across is his iconic look as Scarlet Spider, complete with his hoodie, rather any of the other multitude of mantles Ben has taken on over the years.
Margo Kess, Spider-Byte
Earth: 22191
Margo is the Spider-Society’s tech specialist in Across, a virtual vigilante introduced in 2018's Vault of Spiders miniseries, the Edge of Spider-Verse-esque prelude series to Spider-Geddon. From a reality where people spent most of their lives plugged into a virtual cyberpsace, Margo took on the identity of Spider-Byte to become a digital vigilante to fight cybercrime before she was recruited into the multiversal Spider-Army.
Peter Parkedcar, the Spider-Mobile
Earth: 53931
A riff on Spider-Man’s goofy car, the Spider-Mobile, created in 1973 as a marketing deal between Spidey and the car company Corona Motors, the version we see in Across is actually a Spider-hero from an Earth of sentient vehicles created for the 2014 Spider-Verse comics event.
Pter Ptarker, Spider-Rex
Earth: 66
Created last year for the End of Spider-Verse storyline, he’s... well, he’s a Spider-Man who’s also a T.Rex. What more could you need to know?
Patrick O’Hara, Web-Slinger, and Widow the Horse
Earth: 31913
Patrick and his horse Widow were both bitten by a spider doused in a mystical shamanic elixir, granting them Spider-powers, leading Patrick to use his powers and his sharpshooting talents as a vigilante hero called Web-Slinger. He’s not to be confused with Webslinger, the Medieval Marvel version of Spider-Man that’s a bit more Spider than he is Man.
Peter Parker, the Insomniac Spider-Man
Earth: 1048
The star of PlayStation’s Spider-Man games, this Peter is a long-time Spider-Man who wears a suit designed by himself and his mentor, Dr. Otto Octavius, before his transformation into the villainous Doc Ock. His name as the “Insomniac” Spider-Man in Across is not a reference to his lack of a consistent sleep schedule, but the developer of his games, Insomniac Games.
Max Borne, Spider-Man 2211
Earth: 9500
A TimeSpinner from the year 2211, Max is a scientist who helps control the timeline of his universe. He has history with Miguel in the comics, after Spider-Man 2099 helped him defeat the Green Goblin of Earth-9500, who was none other than Max’s own daughter, Robin.
Charlotte Webber, Sun-Spider
Earth: 20023
Created by Dayn Broder originally as a fan-art “Spider-Sona,” Charlotte made her comics debut in the third volume of Spider-Verse in 2020 alongside several other community-created Spider-heroes. Charlotte uses a wheelchair when out of costume, but as Sun-Spider, she uses a set of crutches for stability.
Lego Peter Parker, Lego Spider-Man
Earth: 13122
He’s Spider-Man, but Lego! His sequences in Across were animated by 14-year-old Preston Mutanga, who had shot to viral fame for his recreations of the previous Spider-Verse trailers in Lego.
Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man
Earth: 120703
Andrew Garfield’s live-action version of Spider-Man makes a small but crucial appearance in Across, utilizing footage from the first Amazing Spider-Man film.
Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man
Earth: 26496
Star of the iconic 2008 animated series Spectacular Spider-Man, and owner of the best Spider-Man theme, Josh Keaton returns to voice his take on Peter in Across.
Peter Parker, Spider-Man
Earth: 96283
Like Garfield’s version of the hero, Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man makes a brief appearance through archival footage from Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man movie.
Peter Parker, Spider-Man Unlimited
Earth: 751263
This is technically the Spider-Man of the ‘90s animated show, just in a much more obscure costume. Hoping to continue in the popular wake of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Unlimited followed Peter as he ventured to the Counter-Earth, a planet on the other side of the sun, in an attempt to rescue J. Jonah Jameson’s astronaut son John. The suit, featuring stealth technology and anti-symbiote sonic weaponry, was designed with the help of Reed Richards.
Peter Parker, Spider-Man 1967
Earth: 6799
Back off of his post-credits cameo in Into the Spider-Verse, the walking meme and star of the 1967 Spider-Man animated series has a similarly brief appearance in Across.
Spider-Cat
Earth: 999
In the comics, poor Spider-Cat suffered a pretty miserable life. His primary foe was a pigeon named Venom, who took several of Spider-Cat’s nine lives, and then the feline lost his life for good when the Inheritors travelled to his reality during their campaign to kill all Spider-heroes, draining Spider-Cat of his life essence handily.
Mary Jane Watson-Parker and Anna-May Parker, Spinneret and AMP
Earth: 18119
A duo of Spider-heroines that are none other than versions of Mary-Jane Parker and Anna-May Parker, the wife and daughter of the Peter Parker who didn’t have Mephisto supernaturally erase his marriage from the timeline, as depicted in the “Renew Your Vows” comic series. They fight alongside Peter as partners in crime-fighting, with MJ taking on the name Spinneret, and Anna-May first taking on the pseudonym AMP, and eventually adopting a new costume and identity as Spiderling.
Maybelle Reilly, Lady Spider
Earth: 803
Maybelle Reilly, the Lady-Spider, was first introduced in Edge of Spider-Verse, the prequel miniseries that gave us Spider-Gwen, and set the stage for the 2015 multiverse event that inspired Into the Spider-Verse in the first place, titled, well, Spider-Verse. A Victorian heiress, Maybelle fights villains with her powers and a self-made set of Iron-Spider-esque mechanical arms.
Peter Parker, the Bombastic Bag-Man
Earth: 616
While the one in Across is a little different from his comics version—in so much that he’s actually wearing a Spider-suit—this is a clear reference to 1984's Amazing Spider-Man #258, where Peter has to return home from the Baxter Building after leaving his new symbiote suit for examination by Reed Richards. He wears a Fantastic Four spare “gifted” to him by Johnny Storm, with no footwear, and the bag-mask and a “kick me” sign on his back for good measure.
Julia Carpenter, Spider-Woman
Earth: 616
Julia was the second Spider-Woman in Earth-616 after Jessica Drew. Genetically enhanced and experimented on by Valerie Cooper and the U.S. government to create their own superhero, Julia eventually joined the West Coast Avengers after being a member of Mystique’s Freedom Force. Currently however, Julia is Madame Web, having inherited the psychic abilities and mantle from Cassandra Webb.
Flash Thompson, Captain Spider
Earth: 78127
Although clad in a varsity jacket unlike his comics counterpart, Captain Spider was an alternate Spider-Man from the pages of What If #7, where it was Flash who was bitten by the radioactive spider rather than Peter.
Peter Parker, Spider-Man (The Last Stand)
Earth: 312500
He was introduced in the comics in 2003 as a vision of an alternate future given to Earth-616's Spider-Man by Julia Carpenter, a world where Peter killed Kraven the Hunter and developed a darker, harsher vigilante persona that led to him being expelled from the Avengers, and ultimately dying in a brawl with the NYPD.
Cyborg Spider-Woman
Earth: Unknown
Newly created for Across, this hulking hero is an homage to the Cyborg Spider-Man of the Revenge of the Sinister Six arc in 1994, where a heavily injured Peter Parker was enhanced with a cybernetic arm cast and an eye piece so he could continue his battle against the Sinister Six.
Doppelganger
Earth: 616
First created as an evil duplicate of Spider-Man by the Magus in the events of Infinity War, Doppelganger took on a life of his own when he was revived by the Demogoblin, creating a psychic link between the two, although they would eventually part ways. Doppelganger then fell in with Carnage and the other symbiotes alongside Demogoblin during the events of “Maximum Carnage.”
Spider-Cop (Sort of)
Earth: 19119
This loosely hall-monitor looking character glimpsed in the film’s sprawling Spider-Society lobby is likely a nod to the “Spider-Cop” gag from Insomniac’s game Marvel’s Spider-Man. In that game—which faced criticism for its portrayal of Spider-Man as a staunch accomplice of the NYPD, aiding them in the setup of an OSCORP-branded citywide surveillance system—Peter has a running bit with his NYPD contact, Yuri Watanabe, in which he adapts the tough detective persona of Spider-Cop.
Spider-Cop became comics canon in the 2018 Spider-Verse sequel event series Spider-Geddon, wearing a Spider-suit underneath an NYPD uniform—but unlike the character seen here, he also wore sunglasses, had a heavy moustache, and wore a police hat.
Web-Man
Earth: 57780
Briefly seen during the film’s massive chase sequence is a Spider-Man wearing the inverted blue-red colors of Web-Man, a mirrored duplicate of Spider-Man created by Doctor Doom for nefarious purposes.
Otto Octavius, Superior Spider-Man
Earth: 616
Likewise briefly glimpsed in Across’ chase, Superior Spider-Man was introduced as part of a controversial story arc that climaxed in 2012's Amazing Spider-Man #700. In the story, Otto Octavius is dying of cancer and swaps minds with Peter Parker, taking over Peter’s body while letting the young man’s mind seemingly perish in his own dying form (don’t worry, everyone got better). While inhabiting Peter’s life, he transforms into the Superior Spider-Man in an attempt to be a better hero than his rival, and Octavius/Peter becomes an uncompromising warrior against injustice... no matter the cost.
The Spider-Armors, Mk I-III
Earths: 616
Although here given to separate Spider-people, three of Peter’s four Spider-Armor suits make appearances in Across. The original Spider-Armor debuted—and was destroyed—in Web of Spider-Man #100 in 1993, while the Mk. II and Mk. III first appeared in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
Peter Parker, Mangaverse Spider-Man
Earth: 2301
Created by Kaare Andrews in 2002, this Spider-Man was part of Marvel’s early attempts to capitalize on the popularity of Japanese media. Originally the last surviving ninja of the Spider-Clan—and trained in martial arts by his mentor Ben—when the Mangaverse was briefly revived in 2006 Peter developed the ability to shoot webs, like his usual counterpart.
Peter Parker, Werewolf Spider-Man
Earth: 7085
Another chase sequence star, this Peter Parker appeared in the 2007 crossover miniseries Marvel Zombies/Army of Darkness. Having escaped the reality of the Marvel Zombies, Evil Dead’s Ash found himself on Earth-7085, only to discover that it had been taken over by a similar blight as the Zombieverse, where all the superheroes, Peter Parker included, had become werewolves.
Peter Parker, Spider-Monkey
Earth: 8101
This Peter is the webslinging hero of the Ape-vengers in an all-intelligent Simian reality from the 2008 miniseries Marvel Apes. He is, of course, a Spider Monkey.
Tsum Tsum Spider-Man
Earth: 616
Briefly seen being held by Spinneret in the Spider-Society’s cafeteria, this adorable version of Spider-Man comes from Disney’s “Tsum Tsum” line of plush toys.
Metro Boomin, Spider-Man
Earth: Unknown
This all new Spider-hero is actually the Spider-Sona of Metro Boomin, the music producer who helped develop Across the Spider-Verse’s soundtrack. Boomin plays a small role voicing the character (also designed by Kris Anka) when the Spider-Society thinks it has Miles cornered during the chase.
Peni Parker, SP//dr
Earth: 14512
Peni makes a return from Into the Spider-Verse as first a member of the Spider-Society, and then as part of Gwen’s small rebel team at the film’s climax, featuring a new version of the SP//dr mecha, following its destruction in the first film.
Peter Parker, Spider-Man Noir
Earth: 90214
Likewise, the Peter Parker of the literally black-and-white reality of the ‘20s and ‘30s makes a small appearance after starring in Into the Spider-Verse, another member of Gwen’s rebel team.
Peter Porker, Spider-Ham
Earth: 8311
From a world where Peter was a spider bitten by a radioactive pig, Spider-Ham is the last returning character from Into the Spider-Verse who only appears during Across’ climactic formation of Gwen’s team. He gets a little less-explicit nod earlier in the film however, when Miguel notes to Gwen that the renaissance Vulture they’re battling also has the ability to use Hammerspace—the comical extra-dimensional void that holds many more objects than its user could actually carry, as Peter does with his mallet in Into the Spider-Verse.
Honorary Mention: Peter Parker, That Little Nerd From Earth-199999
Earth:... 199999
Tom Holland’s Spider-Man doesn’t appear alongside his other theatrical counterparts in Across, but he gets a referential drop alongside Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange early on in the film, as an exasperated Miguel explains to Gwen that his job is to stop disruptions to the multiverse like the one she and Miles witnessed in Into the Spider-Verse... and the one this Peter made during Spider-Man: No Way Home. Maybe they’re saving him for an actual appearance to give Miguel another rage-induced hernia in Beyond the Spider-Verse next year?
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